1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to educational programs, and more particularly to a method of assessing an educational program having multiple learner tracks.
2. Description of the Related Art
The number and types of available educational programs have increased dramatically in the last decade due to a variety of circumstances including expanded educational opportunities and the spread of information technologies such as the Internet. It is important to educators, including program designers and administrators, to be able to accurately gauge the impact of a particular educational program, whether in a traditional classroom context or a more progressive setting such as online instruction. If a particular educational program appears to be ineffective, it should be replaced, or those aspects of the program which are less effective should be redesigned.
Nowhere is it more important to be able to assess program results than in the field of medical education. A real-world mistake made by a learner in such a program can result in disability or death. This importance applies to original instruction as well as continuing medical education. Continuing medical education (CME) provides medical professionals with the opportunity to acquire different types of knowledge that leads to the development of new understandings, skills, and capabilities with the ultimate goal of providing patients with the best care possible. One system for evaluating the effectiveness of CME activities was formulated by D. E. Moore and is referred to as Moore's outcomes framework. According to this framework there are seven levels for assessment: level 1—participation (the number of medical professionals participating in an activity); level 2—satisfaction (the degree to which the expectations of participants were met regarding the presented material and delivery of the activity); level 3—knowledge (the degree to which participants state or indicate what the activity intended them to be able to accomplish); level 4—competence (learners' capability or the degree to which participants show how to accomplish what the activity intended); level 5—performance (the degree to which the participants actually accomplish what the activity intended); level 6—patient health (changes in the health of the participants' patients); and level 7—community health (changes in the health of a patient population associated with changes in participants' practices). Most practical assessments of CME curriculum will focus on the first five of these levels since the last two require extensive survey data.
Even with Moore's framework, it can be difficult to quantitatively assess the value of a continuing medical education program, particularly in the area of participant performance. Furthermore, in programs having multiple activities which define different learner tracks, there is no known methodology for assessing the individual pathways of learners through the curriculum. It would, therefore, be desirable to devise an improved method of assessing an educational program which could identify any significant progress in the curriculum pathways. It would be further advantageous if the method could be compatible with assessments using Moore's outcomes framework for CME programs.